Parents and graduates from Silliman University have aired their concerns on Facebook about a clearance “requirement” to pay ₱150.00 that will go to a “scholarship fund” for incoming freshmen.
One parent, Audrey Jane Larot, took to Facebook asking why the clearance requirements for graduating students includes a P150.00 contribution for a “class scholarship fund”. She asked: “[Isn’t this] additional burden for parents of graduating students? Who will manage this scholarship fund? Why will the students pay for a scholarship fund for freshmen?”
In her post, Larot also emphasized that most of the graduating students are still “dependent on their parents who can barely make both ends meet.”
According to Dr. Warlito Caturay Jr., director of the Office of Media & Public Affairs, this collection of the required fee has been going on since 2008. “[Graduating] Batches during the Seniors’ Day make a commitment to come up with the fund,” he said.
Alysson Palencia, senior representative of the SU College of Mass Communication, confirmed the sentiment of the parent who posted on Facebook. She said they were informed in a meeting that it’s been a “University tradition” that each graduating student’s P150. contribution will be used to provide for one freshman’s tuition for a number of years.
They also learned that their clearances will not be signed unless they contribute to the “scholarship fund”.
One comment in the Facebook thread said it’s “not the obligation of a graduating student” to pay for a scholarship fund. “This is the school’s concern to look for funding…not pass it to the students; most especially, it’s the parents who will bear again [the brunt of] the expenses.”
“If they do not pay, their clearance will not be signed? So technically, the students are forced to pay” for the scholarship fund, another Facebook user lamented.
“[The idea] was voted upon by the League of Governors who agreed on letting one [incoming] student enjoy a scholarship from the Class of 2025,” explained Moses Joshua Atega of the Office of Student Services.
With about 1,350 college graduates last week, some P202,000 is expected to have been generated for this year’s scholarship fund.
Atega said “a good number”of scholars have since graduated with a four-year funding [since 2009], who were selected by the SU Scholarship Committee from among the “poorest applicants for work scholarship”. (Genno Gabriel Rabaya)
